Category: fatalism

Accepting Reality Is Not Giving Up

“It is what it is” was a favorite expression of a woman I once knew. If it was pouring rain the day she’d planned on weeding her flower beds, that phrase would be the first on her lips. If a friend canceled dinner plans because of an unexpected obligation, “It is what it is” popped…


Overestimation of Chinese Police Threatens Rights Defenders

Commentary An overestimation of the technical abilities of the Chinese police leads local activists to give up protecting themselves, including their electronic devices—putting themselves at even greater risks. Over the past few years, every so often I’d hear from a rights defender in China that local activists just won’t bother to use even the most basic…